Two Halves of a Whole
by Elbatsnu
Summary: A new and unusual student arrives at Garden, and Squall finds this isn't the only strange event, as rumors begin to sprout up around Garden. Unbelievable rumors, and Seifer is the prime suspect.
1. Oversized bugs are not your friend

  
  
  
  
Chapter One - Oversized bugs are NOT your friend  
  
_If oranges were blue, would they still be oranges? {Not this again.} Screw off, I'm thinking. {Yeah well, I'm thinking too.} Shut up! {Make me.} …I really shouldn't argue with myself so much… {No kidding.} I thought I told you to shut up!_ Sixteen year old Ayori Taro walked down an icy street, cursing the voices in her head. She'd just finished another day of school, during which Krin had announced she was leaving the next day. Her best friend was leaving for the Christmas break, leaving her alone again. No parties, no best friend… _Looks like another holiday in front of the Playstation. Just me and my computer generated friends._  
  
As she started thinking about the game she owned, a car drove by. She glanced quickly, losing her balance and falling on the ice. "Ow. Ayo, this is NOT your day…"  
  
She stood up quickly, glancing around to see if anyone noticed her fall. There was nobody around, so she smiled and continued towards her house. When she got there, she ran upstairs and flipped on her Playstation. "All right. Squall, Zell, Seifer. Here I come boys."   
  
She didn't realize how right she was.  
  
~~~   
  
2 minutes later….  
Ayori stared at her Playstation. Why wasn't it working? She flipped it on again. Nothing. _What the hell is wrong with you? Stupid thing… Oh. Hey. Look at that switch… I never saw that before. I wonder what it does?_ Ayori reached out and - you guessed it. She flipped the switch.  
  
At first, nothing happened. Ayori stared at her console, wondering if she'd broken it. Then, suddenly, the console began to beep in steady pulses. It convulsed once and Ayo gasped, leaning forward on her hands and knees and holding it down with one hand. All of a sudden everything began to turn black and she started to fall forward. She reached out grabbing the closest thing to her - her backpack.  
  
Everything around her was swirling into a giant sea of color. There were no individual hues, rather there was one giant mass of color. Ayori would have thought it was beautiful had she not been trying to keep her lunch in her stomach. She closed her eyes to keep from throwing up, but it made her feel worse. Eventually the color became darkness; it swallowed her whole and she passed out.  
  
~~~  
  
When Ayori opened her eyes, firstly she noticed that she was no longer in her room. The next thing she noticed was that she was in the middle of a field. Nothing was around her besides grass, grass, and what looked to be a mountain in the distance. Another thing she noticed was that it was much warmer than it should have been. "Okay, great. Ayo, what the hell did you do? I must be dreaming, there's no way I could've traveled, well, anywhere. How did I pass out so quickly…?" She stood up, noticing her backpack next to her. "Ah, how convenient. Bet my CDs broke this time…"  
  
"SCREEEE!"  
  
"…What the hell?"  
  
"SCREEEEEE! SCREE!"  
  
"Well. That's great. Not only am I in the middle of a grassy field, but now some giant mosquito is flying at me. Woo! Good thing this is a dream," She rolled her eyes, pushed a clump of shoulder-length auburn hair behind her ear and watched it approach. "Yes. That's right. I don't plan on moving, because I'm an idiot."  
  
The oversized bug flew towards her at a rapid pace, quickly followed by two more identical to it. "SCREE!" A cry came from the second bug, as it flew through the air. The first one came to a slow halt in front of her, bobbing in the air while its wings made a slight thumping noise as it flapped.  
  
"…. Dear GOD that noise is annoying." Ayori blew up at her bangs from habit, and looked down at her backpack. Did she have anything she could use as a weapon?   
"I told my mom I wanted an army knife, but noo…" She sighed, lifting her backpack from the ground. She returned her gaze to the three bugs, noticing that they hadn't moved.  
"Ah, so I get the first move? Alrighty then. You guys look awfully familiar, like those Bite… thingies. Bite Bugs. You have... I dunno. About 100 HP. I never really paid attention… just hacked you up." Ayori held the straps of her backpack and got into a fighting stance. She sprang forward at the nearest bug, whacking it into the ground with her bag. She heard a 'crunch' as she did so.  
"Shit! CDs!" Ayori growled and jumped back to her original place. She fished through the bag, pulling out a package meant for carrying CDs without their cases. She lightly tossed it away, and faced her attackers. The bugs were up again, and looked ready to go. "….Oh crap. I forgot about the whole 'they can attack you' thing. Damn."  
  
The second bug dove forward, slashing out and cutting Ayori's arm. "OW! God DAMNIT!" Ayori gripped her arm, and watched as the first bug -the one she'd hit- got ready to strike. She deemed her cut a minor one and abandoned it for a better grip on the straps of her weapon. Her pale blue eyes stared into its blank onyx ones, and she got her backpack ready again.  
The bug dove forward at her, but before it could strike she swung her backpack like a baseball bat, knocking the bug to the side. As she watched it stagger back into the air, the final bug struck her across her right shoulder. The wound cut deep, and blood started to flow down her bare arm. "Augh! Now would be a good time to run!"  
  
As soon as she started to back away, a shot rang out through the air.  
Bang. The third bug fell to the ground, lifeless.  
Bang. The second bug followed suit.  
"Oh yeah. Time to die!" Ayori, ignoring from where the shots came, dove forward and whacked the first bug with her backpack. The bug didn't fall to the ground, so she hit it again. When this didn't work, she knocked it to the ground and started jumping on it until it gave up and disappeared.  
  
_Ew. Bug guts._ Ayori gasped as she heard applause from behind her, and spun to face the source.  
  
"Congratulations. In all 18 years of my life, I've never seen a battle quite like that," drawled a male voice. From what Ayori could see, he was at least six feet tall, sporting a long brown coat and a cowboy hat.  
  
"Oh… my god," Ayori whispered to herself. "Is that… Irvine?"  
  
~~~  
  
The young man strongly resembling Irvine Kinneas walked over to her, tipping his hat in greeting. "Hey there. What's a pretty girl like you doing out in the middle of nowhere?"  
  
"I have absolutely no idea." _Yeah. That was smart, Ayo._  
  
The lanky cowboy arched an eyebrow and grinned. "So what, you're lost then?"  
  
Ayori glanced around her. "….Looks that way." She was tempted to ask him his name, but wasn't sure she wanted to find out.  
  
"Well, if you're looking for Garden then you're a little off. It's over that hill over there," he gestured an arm to the east as he spoke. "In the harbor."  
  
_Garden? Harbor? Oh, this is rich. Go on Ayo, ask what town's over there. Go on, ask!_ Ayori sighed, glancing to the east then back at the young man. God, he was tall. "Exactly which town would that be?"  
  
The man chuckled, taking off his hat and shaking his head. "That would be the town of Balamb."  
  
"Ah," Ayori scratched the side of her head, gazing off to the North.Let me guess, over there would be this bigass crater, home to a strange looking alien named Pupu…. While she was gazing across the field, she noticed a green and black case in the grass. _Whoops. CDs…_ Ayori bent down, picked the case up and returned it to her backpack.  
  
The man chuckled again, returning the hat to its original place on his head. "Would'ya like an escort? In case some evil Bite Bugs come and attack ya 'gain." The grin on his face widened, showing how amused he was with that statement. Ayori narrowed her eyes.  
  
"Sure. But I think I need some bandages or something." The humor in his face left instantly. He glanced at the wounds on her shoulders and arms, his eyes growing a little wider in the process. He murmured something under his breath, and opened his hand in Ayori's direction. A green glow enveloped her, and when it disappeared her cuts went with it.  
  
"Ooh. Cool. Cure, right?"  
  
"Yop." The cowboy smiled again, gesturing to the shorter girl. "Shall we then?"  
  
"Sure." Ayori lifted her backpack from the ground, and started walking to the east.  
  
"Oh," the cowboy started. "By the way, the name's Irvine. Irvine Kinneas." He stuck his hand out, with a big smile on his face.  
  
_I was right…_ "My name's Ayori Taro. But, most people call me Ayo," She shook his hand, and they continued walking to the east.  
  
~~~  
  
_Alright. Let's think about this Ayo, shall we? One: You are having a really weird dream. Two: In this dream, you got hacked up by Bite Bugs and saved by FF8's cowboy -Irvine. Three: He used a cure on you, and it felt all tingly and cool. Four: Point Three was retarded. Five: You're going to Garden. You're probably going to meet people like Quistis, Selphie, Squall, and Zell. Maybe even Seifer. What the hell are you gonna do now?_  
  
"Earth to Ayo-chan," Irvine called, waving a hand in front of her face.  
  
Ayori blinked and realized she hadn't been listening to him. "Oh, sorry. I was drifting." She smiled at him, and he shrugged. "What were you saying?"  
  
"We'll be at Balamb in a few minutes. Getting tired?"  
  
"Nope. Not really." Ayori looked down at her shoes. _Good thing I wore my running shoes upstairs again… walking around barefoot would be kind of suspicious._  
  
When Balamb came into view, Ayori could only stop and stare in awe. It was beautiful. The archway over the entrance was shining white, and you could see the hotel from outside the town. If you looked even further back, you could make out Balamb Garden bobbing on the water.  
  
"Wow.." Ayori stared as the sun reflected off some of the buildings. If this was Balamb, what did Esthar look like?  
  
"Hey, are you coming? Or did you want to beat a monster with that bag of yours to say goodbye?" Irvine was standing under the archway, fists on hips and pretending to look impatient.  
  
Ayori made a face. "No, that's quite alright." She took a deep breath and headed in after Irvine.  
  
~~~  
  
Walking down the street, Ayori was absorbed in staring at the buildings. She'd never seen them at these angles before. They looked… so real. But they couldn't be real, because this was a dream. Wasn't it?  
  
Irvine glanced back at her, frowned, then returned his gaze to ahead of them. He spotted another young man running down the road. This young man had short blonde hair that was spiked in the front, baggy shorts, and a large black tattoo…  
  
"Zell..." Ayori breathed, her eyes wide. There was no doubt about it. Nobody else in the world would think about getting a tattoo along the side of their face like that.  
  
"HEY! ZELL!" Irvine waved as the young man came close to them. Zell waved back, grinning and jumping like a madman.  
  
"Hey, Irvine! You took such a long walk that I was sent out to get you!"  
  
"Are you serious?" Irvine scoffed. "They have no faith in me."  
  
Zell shrugged, still grinning. He set his eyes on Ayori, his eyebrows shooting upwards. "Hey, Irvine, who's this? Don't tell me you found a new girl…"  
  
Irvine grinned. "Well I-…" Irvine started, before Ayori whacked him in the arm. She turned to face Zell, a smile spreading across her face.  
"Hi, I'm Ayori. And yes, Irvine found me, but probably not in the sense you're thinking."  
  
"Ah." Zell nodded knowingly, and stuck out his hand. "I'm Zell Dincht. Nice to meet you."  
Ayori returned the gesture. _These guys sure like to shake hands._  
  
"I found Ayo-chan here trying to defeat three Bite Bugs with a bag. It was quite interesting. She killed one by jumping on it a lot." Irvine grinned, messing up Ayori's hair. She batted his hand away and proceeded to fix the mess on her head. "She's short, like you Zell. You're almost the same height."  
  
Zell grinned. "She's shorter."  
  
"By like an inch!" Irvine exclaimed, but Zell just shook his head dismissively.  
  
"Anyway, are you two heading to Garden? We're sailing soon. Oh hey… would that would mean you're a new student, Ayo?"  
  
"Uhh…" Ayori blanked. New student? Would that work? No… but did she have a choice? "Uh… yeah. Actually, I'm hoping to start going to school at Garden really soon. ….Uh… Wanna be a SeeD." Ayori nodded. She immediately felt like an idiot though, because of the surprised looks the two gave her.  
  
"Well. At least you have potential, right? I mean… you killed a Bite Bug with a bag and shoes. So… yeah. You might want to get yourself a real weapon, though." Irvine nodded, looking thoughtful.  
  
Ayori smirked. _No kidding._ She shifted her backpack onto her other shoulder, and the three continued down the road to the docks. When they reached the top of a low slope, Zell ran inside a nearby house. Ayori and Irvine heard him yell something, and he came back out grinning. "Okay. Let's go. I just wanted to say bye to my ma before I left."  
  
When they got to Garden, Ayori was so amazed at its size that she actually fell down looking up at it. Zell pulled her back to her feet and dragged her along as she stared at the deck they'd be climbing on. They ascended to the deck via rope ladder, and pulled it up after them. As soon as they did so, Garden began to move.  
  
"Wow, that was a close one," Irvine said, sighing in relief. He glanced at Ayori. "You almost made me late! You and your crazy bug whacking!" He exclaimed, trying to look condescending.   
  
"Oh shut up. Just because I can't kill them in one hit doesn't mean you can tease me. And I KILLED one with my crazy bug whacking!"  
  
Zell laughed. "I can't wait for you to tell that part to Squall, Irvine." Zell must have noticed the look Ayori gave him when he said Squall, because then he continued, "and maybe you can introduce our newest student to him."  
  
Irvine looked at Ayori and Zell, grinning and shaking his head. "Nah. I'll leave that up to you Zell. Now, if you'll both excuse me," Irvine turned on his heel and marched to the door to the stairway to 2F. "I've got some ladies to find." He waved a hand in the air above him, stepped through the door, and disappeared.  
  
"Well," Ayori said, with a slightly amused look on her face. "It's too bad he made such a dramatic exit just to have us follow him in." Zell smirked.  
  
"Well," he said, motioning to the door that Irvine disappeared through. "Shall we?"  
  
~~~  
  



	2. Hot dogs? I like hot dogs...

  
  
  
  
Chapter 2 - Hot dogs? I like hot dogs...  
  
During the time it took to get them to the elevator, six students had greeted Zell, four had nodded to him, two had stared at Ayori's clothes as she walked by, and three girls had burst out laughing when they rounded the corner. Ayori sighed, _What am I doing that's making them all go crazy?_ She looked down at her clothes. _What? Cargo pants and a red tank-top. What's wrong with that?_  
  
She looked up at the students, who all blended together with their matching uniforms. _If I have to get one of those, I'll die. Hey… I can't afford one. Being poor here might be a good thing._  
  
"Hey, Ayo? Are you planning on getting a uniform?" Zell asked her as they stepped onto the elevator. He punched in 3F and turned to look at her.  
  
"Oh… I was just thinking about that. Can you read my mind?" Zell blinked at her and she smirked. "Well, do I really have to? Can't I just wear my normal clothes, like you and Irvine?"  
  
"Heh, normal. You'll probably be required to wear a uniform. All students do, except Seifer. Oh, wait, you don't know Seifer, do you? Well, you will soon. He'll probably be in at least one of your classes." Zell nodded. Ayori was about to ask more, but they'd already arrived at the third floor. They stepped off the elevator, and Ayori watched as it disappeared downwards again.  
  
Ayori looked forward into the room, expecting to see a large platform on a pedestal in the middle of the office. Instead, to her surprise, there was just an office. She glanced up as they entered, and heard someone steering up above. Must be Nida. That strange, strange boy.  
  
"Hey there Squall," Zell called, saluting the figure in the back of the room. Ayori paled.   
  
_Salute.. Salute… I have to salute._ Ayori turned to face the same direction as Zell, but the figure approaching them caused her to freeze. Her eyes opened wide and she had trouble standing on her own feet.  
  
"This is Ayori. Irvine found her when he was out in the fields. Seems some Bite Bugs ambushed her and Irvine helped her out. She even killed one," Zell grinned at her, which snapped her into reality. "Beat it down with that bag she carries and jumped on it - a lot."  
  
Ayori blushed. Why was she blushing now? She didn't blush with Irvine or Zell. And yet, here she was, in the presence of a character in a game that she saved the world with. She was standing within 10 feet of Squall Leonhart, and it was a sight to see. He was wearing his SeeD uniform, which was a rarity at best, and he looked great. No, scratch great, it did not do him justice. His hair was messy as usual - but it looked like he took hours to set it that way. The sensuality he emitted rolled off him in waves. He was **gorgeous**.  
  
Squall nodded to Ayori. "Hello. Welcome to Garden."  
  
"I.. uh…" Ayori swallowed hard. _C'mon Ayori, don't be a retard. This is just Squall. You've already met Irvine AND Zell. This is no sweat!_ "Yeah… Hi there, Headmaster!" Ayori beamed at him, mimicking the salute Zell had given him. Squall's stone face softened slightly, and he nodded again.  
  
"I trust you've come to enroll?"  
  
"That was the plan." Ayori fidgeted, then quickly added, "sir."  
  
"You'll need a uniform, and some textbooks. And a room…" Squall sighed. He looked to Zell. "Do you think you can handle getting her settled into her room with classes and a uniform, Zell?"  
  
"Sure thing, Headmaster."  
  
"Good."  
  
"Later Squall." Zell saluted again and Squall nodded in return. Ayori saluted as well, smiling and running after Zell.  
  
Squall sighed and sat back in the chair behind his desk. "I have a weird feeling about that girl," he murmured, eyes narrowing. Moments later he shrugged it off, and continued to sift through the pile of paperwork on his desk.  
  
~~~  
  
"Okay, here's the dorms. Your room is near mine, but yours is a double. You're sharing it with another student. If you have a problem with her at any time, you can submit your name to get moved to a new room. If you graduate and become a SeeD, you get a single room. Okay?"  
  
"Gotcha." Ayori had heard this all before, but figured she should be polite. Until she started blending with the rest of these students, she expected to be exiled and needed whatever friends she could get. _Especially the famous "I saved the world" friends_, she thought, smiling internally. Those were the best kind.  
  
"Okay, so, you want to go drop your stuff off then go get your class schedule? It's almost lunch time, if we hurry we can be first in line." As if on cue, Zell's stomach started growling. He grinned sheepishly. "And that means we'll get hotdogs for sure."  
  
Ayori grinned. "Sounds great." She put the key in the door of her new room, and opened the door. "Hey Zell, are you going to wait out here?"  
  
"Oh. Yeah, I'll be here." Zell leaned against the wall next to the door.  
  
"All right. I'll be out in like two minutes." Ayori peeked into the room, leaving the door open. She looked at the two rooms inside the room. Both doors were closed, which was strange. Both also had posters of animals on them, which was downright rude. If one of these rooms was hers, where did this girl get off putting her stuff on a room that wasn't hers?  
  
"Hey, is anybody in here? I'm your new roommate, and I'm wondering which room you're actually IN…"  
  
"What? Wait, hold on." The door on the left slid open, and out stepped a girl with long black hair and thick bangs. She was wearing the Garden uniform, sans the jacket. "Uh, who are you? How'd you get into our room?"  
  
Ayori arched an eyebrow. "OUR room? Well, I got into OUR room by this key right here," Ayori held up the key, and heard a rustling from behind the door on the right.  
  
"…Is somebody in there?"  
  
The girl looked confused. "What? No, I can't get a roommate. There's not enough room in here. I have a roommate, and he's sleeping." The girl started to look a little flustered, and waved her hand as she spoke. "You'll have to sleep in the hall or something because there is _no way_ I'm kicking out my **boyfriend** for some…" The girl glanced at Ayori's clothes. " Some FREAK!" By this time, the girl's face had turned bright red and appeared to be quite angry. This anger was outmatched, however, when Ayori processed these words.  
  
"…Excuse me? ….What the HELL did you just call me?!" Ayori's eyes narrowed as dropped her bag on the ground. She started advancing towards the dark haired girl.  
  
Zell took this exact moment to peek in the door. "Uh, hey, is there a problem?" He saw the two girls beginning to square off, and ran into the room. "Whoa, whoa! What's going on?"  
  
"That's what I'd like to know…" A voice came from behind the right door, and it slid open to reveal a half-dressed male student. His eyes opened wide when he saw Zell. "Oh… oh shit."  
  
~~~  
  
"Sorry about that Ayo. We'll get you a new room really soon. How about we go get your schedule in the meantime?" Zell glanced at his watch, and frowned.  
  
"My schedule can wait, right? Can we grab lunch first?" Ayori grinned as Zell immediately cheered up.  
"Yeah. That's a good plan."  
  
Zell and Ayori made their way to the cafeteria, to find about 5 students in line. Zell grinned, "Hey, we're in luck!" Just as Ayori stepped into the line, about ten more students crammed in behind her, cutting Zell out of the line. Ayori narrowed her eyes.  
  
"Why the hell is everyone in this school such an ASSHOLE?" Ayori growled, staring at the students that stole Zell's spot.  
  
The students stared at her in return. This only made her more upset, and she was about to yell again when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Zell, grinning like a toddler. "Don't worry about it Ayori, I'll just wait at the back. No hotdogs today, it's not a big deal."   
  
"But... Zell. I don't have any money." Ayori frowned, realizing they both might have to wait quite awhile for lunch.  
  
"Don't worry about it. Run it off my tab." Zell grinned and went to the back of the line.  
  
Ayori sighed, and eventually reached the counter. The cafeteria lady smiled at her. "You're in luck young lady, there's two hotdogs left. Would you like both?"  
Ayori considered this. She WAS pretty hungry… but she didn't want to seem selfish. _Selfish? Ha. If you don't take them, then those assholes behind you will get them. And hey, you don't even have to eat them…_ Ayori grinned. She always felt so smart when she made a plan. "I'll take two hotdogs, an orange juice, and a Grilled Cheese Sandwich please. Zell told me to put it on his tab."  
  
The cafeteria lady nodded. She wrote down a price in a book, and handed Ayori what she'd ordered. She heard a groan from behind her when they realized there weren't any hotdogs left. She walked over to Zell, who was standing patiently in line.  
  
He turned to face her, grinning immediately. "You got the last two? You're lucky, you know. I guess it's a G.C for me.."  
  
Ayori shook her head. "No way. The G.C's for me. The hotdogs," she picked them off her tray and passed them to a shocked Zell. "Are for you."  
  
~~~  
  
After lunch, Zell took Ayori to get her class schedule. They looked for Quistis, and everyone told them the same thing: she was in the 2F classroom.  
  
"Me thinks this means she's in the 2F classroom, Zell." Ayori nodded, smiling slightly. Zell rolled his eyes and they returned to the elevator. He pressed the button for 2F, and they got out when it stopped. Zell waved at a student in the hallway, and the two rounded the corner from the elevator's hallway into a corridor. From there Ayori could see the doorway connecting to the deck.  
  
"Here it is," Zell stopped in front of a door, looking up at it. He knocked a few times, and was answered by a tall woman with blonde hair.  
  
Quistis wasn't wearing her glasses today, which -Ayori assumed- most likely made many students very, very happy. She wasn't wearing her red suit she'd worn during the game, but was wearing an outfit similar to the students'. She also looked slightly annoyed when she saw Zell at the door.  
  
"Ah. Zell," Quistis' soft voice held a hint sarcasm in it. "It's so nice to see you. How can I help you today?"  
  
"Brought you a new student, Quisty. She doesn't have a uniform, books, or even a room anymore. I figured she could sit in class while I go set up some of that." Zell shrugged.  
  
Quistis arched an eyebrow. "A new student? How interesting... Well, come in then. What's your name?"  
  
"Ayori Taro," Ayori answered quickly. She felt nervous, entering a classroom just like that. She nodded to Zell and he ran off, leaving her alone in Garden for the first time since she got there.  
  
"Well," Quistis scanned the room. It was packed with students, and there didn't seem to be any more seats. "Hm… Ah. There's a seat, next to Seifer. You can go sit there." Quistis pointed to a desk near the back, but Ayori couldn't see anyone sitting there. As she made her way to the back of the room -ignoring the stares her clothes got her- she saw that there WAS someone sitting there.  
It was Seifer all right. Considering there were few people that didn't wear the uniform, he stood out. That was if he was even awake… Ayori sat next to him quietly, and checked out his clothes. He was wearing that awesome silver coat that she'd always loved. She could barely see his blond hair behind his arm. He obviously didn't feel like being disturbed.  
  
"All right class, turn to page 64 in your texts. Read that and start on the questions. I'll be back in about ten minutes." Quistis' eyes swept across the room, and she left.  
  
Ayori blinked. _Great. Uh, miss? Come back! I need a book! …So, what? Do I just sit here?_ She looked around the room, catching the eyes of random people that were looking at her. She narrowed her eyes, _Keep your eyes to yourself, losers. Just because I dress prettier than you…_ Ayori stopped thinking abruptly when she heard a rustling from Seifer. She froze. _Oh… my god. Be... invisible! You can't see me. I won't be killed today. I was put here. I'm invisible…_  
  
Seifer started sitting up. Had he fallen asleep again? Must have... he hoped Quistis didn't notice. When he looked up however, Quistis wasn't in the room. Something else that seemed strange was the fact that all the students were glancing back at him. No, not at him… Seifer turned to look at the person sitting next to him. "…..Hi."  
  
Ayori took a deep breath. _Okay. Reply, you dumbass! Do you WANT him to maim you?_ She smiled at Seifer. "Hi."  
_You are going to die._  
  
~~~  
  



	3. The former Sorceress' Knight and SeeD

  
  
Chapter 3 - The former Sorceress' Knight and SeeD.  
  
"How long have you been sitting here?" Seifer rubbed the sleep from his eyes, sitting up straighter.  
  
"Uh.. not long. A few minutes I guess. Qui... Miss Trepe put me here." She smiled weakly. "She then left us with an assignment, saying she'd be back in ten minutes."  
  
Seifer rolled his eyes. "You're new then. You're new, and Quistis left you here without books. What the hell are you staring at?" Seifer's voice grew louder as he turned his attention to the students glancing back at them.  
  
"That would be me," Ayori smiled again. Seifer wasn't as... terrifying as she had first thought. _I might live to see tomorrow after all,_ she thought to herself.   
  
"And who are you?"  
  
"Ayori Taro, but some people call me Ayo."  
  
"Aa. Seifer Almasy," he said, gesturing to himself. Ayori smiled, nodding. Seifer blinked, sighing. "So what work did _Miss Trepe_ leave us to do, Ayo?"  
  
"Uh... Reading."  
  
"Pages?"  
  
_Damn short term memory.. {Short term memory? Don't blame it, it doesn't exist.} Damnit. {What?} I thought I'd lost you with the fall. {Well poopie on you.}_ Ayori smiled slightly, then realized Seifer was still looking at her. She blushed. "I don't remember, my subconscious was screaming 'Book! Need book!'" _{Was not.}_ "I think it was... 64 or something. Then she said do the questions."  
  
"What questions?"  
  
"THE questions." Ayori nodded, looking serious. Seifer smirked.  
  
"Well, I can't do the questions if I don't know what page the reading's on, eh?" His smirk grew into a grin, and Ayori nodded.  
  
~~~  
  
The rest of the day consisted of tours from Zell, and going to classrooms she was put in. He'd gotten Ayori's schedule, so she sat in on these classes, where the teachers talked about certain monsters, and element based attacks. Granted, she didn't really pay attention...  
  
No course of events that followed could top her meeting with Seifer. Not even when Zell brought her out to the 2F deck to watch the water. The former Sorceress' Knight had left quite an impression on her. "Ayo? Ayo-chan? You're spacing out on me again."   
Ayori blinked, and focused her eyes. "Oh... Sorry Zell." She smiled apologetically.  
  
Zell shrugged it off, as if he was used to being ignored. She felt a twinge of guilt, and noted to pay more attention to the talkative blond.  
  
"I just said that maybe you'll end up with a GF all your own one day. For some reason, Squall doesn't think there's a limited number of them. They're cool, if you don't mind losing your memory." Zell grinned, and Ayori smiled in return. She wasn't ready to forget good 'ole Earth just yet.  
However, the longer she stayed here the less she wanted to leave. Sure, there were monsters everywhere, but nothing can get to you when you're on a giant school in the middle of the ocean, right?  
  
She glanced out at the water, thinking about what Zell said. _More GFs? I didn't even want to go around collecting the other ones! {Uh, note to Ayo. You didn't even beat the game yet. You haven't collected all the GFs.} Yeah yeah.. You'd think I'd have appeared in the part of the game I left off, ne? {Consider yourself lucky then. I personally wasn't looking forward to killing Elnoyle's to get Squall's ultimate weapon.} I'm still not._  
  
"We should be at FH tomorrow morning. Then we - as in me, Quistis, Irvine, and Squall - will be making up a new SeeD Field Test... This is going to be harder than the ones we had to do. Squall wants some elite SeeDs, not students that got lucky."  
  
"Great, challenges. Maybe I'll meet up with some Bite Bugs, ne?" Ayori smiled weakly, not looking forward to fighting more monsters.  
  
~~~  
  
Three days later...  
  
Knock, knock, knock. Ayori groaned when she realized someone was knocking on her door. She rolled out of bed, and wrapped the comforter around her. She walked over to the door, and pressed the airlock. The door slid open, revealing Zell, who was grinning from ear to ear.  
  
"Guess what." He said, practically bouncing.  
  
"Bite Bugs are taking over the world," Ayori groaned, adjusting her comforter.  
  
Zell's face turned mock-solemn. "No, but that's still a possibility. It's good that you're aware of that." Zell grinned again. "You've aced every test given to you, and Headmaster Squall says you can take the SeeD test."  
  
Ayori blinked. "Another test?"  
  
"I'm sure you'll do fine. The catch is... you can't study for it. You have to take it in three hours. Good luck, ne? You'll be writing in the 2F classroom. See ya," Without pausing to hear her reply, he took off running out the main part of the room, and disappeared into the hallway.  
  
Ayori heard the sound of air whooshing, and looked over to see her roommate Nika blinking at her. "SeeD? Wow, you're lucky Ayo." Ayori frowned. "I don't feel very lucky."  
Nika shrugged, "At least you get to try real soon, ne? You don't have to wait like three years before you're allowed." She smiled weakly. "I might be roommateless again soon."  
  
Ayori sighed, returning Nika's smile. Nika'd been very nice to her, and had been the first student not to gawk at her clothes. She wore the uniform now, but she hated every second of it. Ayori Taro was NOT a skirt person.  
  
~~~  
  
"It wasn't too bad," Ayori replied quietly, after Irvine inquired about the SeeD test. "I knew most of the answers from the tests I've taken, and some was common knowledge. Then there were a couple I had to guess... but there weren't too many of those."  
  
Zell whistled from his seat on the other side of the table. The three of them were sitting in the cafeteria, as Zell stuffed hotdogs in his mouth and Irvine occasionally shot him a disgusted glance. Ayori found this amusing.  
  
"So basically, you think you passed. The SeeD test. The one that I passed by about 2 marks," Zell was shaking his head in disbelief. "Amazing. Truly."  
  
"You shouldn't do too bad on the Field Test, we helped make it up after all... but you still have to work on those weapon skills." On her second day at Garden, Irvine had taken Ayori to the weapons room to choose a weapon. It took almost an hour of digging before she found it - a sword. She loved it. It was curved at the end, and she couldn't even remember what it was called, but she loved it. The handle on it was carved to look like a dragon breathing fire. The marksmanship was beautiful, and she was told it was one of a kind.  
  
"My weapon skills are fine," Ayori pouted. Irvine laughed.  
  
"Your sword is awesome, and can probably cut through steel, but you can't handle it at all! Watching you try and swing it has to be the funniest thing in the world." Irvine grinned, and snatched one of Zell's hot dogs. Before Zell could protest, Irvine shoved it in his mouth and it was gone.  
  
"Damned Irvine," Zell frowned. He pulled his plate away, and turned back to Ayori. "The SeeD Field Test is sure to be hard, so you'll want to be really good at handleing that sword of yours."  
  
"Yeah, the problem is, who around here can teach me to use a sword?"  
  
~~~  
  
The thought hadn't even occured to her. She should have known from that evil glint in Zell's eyes that this was going to be a bad idea. It wasn't who he'd decided to get to teach her... wait, yes it was. Of all people, of everyone in Garden, there were two guys with swords. Gunblades to be exact. There were TWO people that were qualified to teach her how to use the sword.   
One was Headmaster, and they weren't about to ask him.  
  
The other...  
  
"Ayori," came a voice from behind her.  
  
She closed her eyes briefly, and spun to face the source. If possible, he was even more gorgeous standing up. His short blond hair bouncing slightly, his long grey coat swishing at his knees as he strode towards her. She wanted that coat.  
"Seifer," she nodded to him, his smirk turning to a wicked grin.  
  
He gestured to the door of the Training Grounds, pressing the airlock and watching the door open. "After you."  
  
Ayori heard a monster wailing inside. She took a deep breath, and stepped into the large jungle-like room.  
  
~~~  
  
They'd been in the Training Grounds for little over an hour, and Ayori was covered in slime. A large turnip with tentacles swishing through the air decided to spit on her. It was disgusting, sticky, and smelled like garlic.  
  
"Don't kid around Seifer."  
  
"I'm not. I really don't have any."  
  
"Draw some!"  
  
"No GF."  
  
"You're lying. You have some. Use it!"  
  
"I don't have any!"  
  
"You lie. If you don't use it, I'm gonna... hug you! And get it all over your coat!"  
  
Seifer faltered, and sighed deeply. He loved his coat. "Ayo... how the hell'd you pass that SeeD exam? You can't use magic without a Guardian Force."  
  
"ARGH!" Ayori sat on a log, growling. "This sucks. I want a GF."  
  
Seifer plopped down beside her. "Hai... I know what you mean. I can attack and use potions. Goodie for me. I'm lucky, I can kill a T-Rexaur in only a few shots."  
  
"How long are we staying in here?" Ayori glanced up at Seifer, and he smiled at the sight. The goo was set in her hair, and it was seperated in clumps all over her head. It resembled Squall's in a way, except it was longer and redder. She also had a large clump on her left cheek, which he promptly brushed off. She smiled.  
  
"We're staying here until you can kill something in less than five hits."  
  
Ayori groaned. It usually took her at least ten hits to kill something. She frowned, glancing around the grounds.  
  
Seifer blinked. He must have been seeing things, because the second Ayori frowned, he could've sworn she was Squall. At first he thought it was just the hair, but when he looked closer, he could almost see a resemblance between her and Squall. In fact, if you cut her hair and gave her a scar...  
  
Ayori looked back at Seifer, to notice him staring at her. "What?"  
  
"Are you and Leonhart related?"  
  
She blinked. "...What?"  
  
"Are you related to Squall?"  
  
"Not that I know of." Ayori scratched her gooey head. Where had this come from? Seifer's eyes narrowed slightly and he stood, glancing around the Grounds.  
"Maybe we'll end early today."  
  
"Nani? You just said we were staying until I could get five hits!"  
  
He glanced at her, and looked away again. "I changed my mind."  
  
_Okay.... {Get going, he looks pissed.} I didn't do anything! {Does it matter? Just go.}_ Ayori sighed, standing slowly. Seifer started walking back to the door, and she followed close behind.   
She stopped dead when she heard it - the almost deafening roar. Only one monster in the Training Grounds could possibly make that noise. She cringed as she saw Seifer turn slowly, looking behind her. She turned slowly too, and came face to face with a giant, red, Tyrannosaurus Rex, also known in this world as a T-Rexaur.  
  
In the game, T-Rexaur's had frightened her. She always pumped out her GFs when one showed up but that was a game. This, she had come to realize, was not a game. This was real. She could get hurt here; hell, she could even die here. And at this moment, she didn't have a Guardian Force to protect her.  
  
"Get back!" Seifer roared, and she wasn't about to argue. She ran so she was a row behind Seifer, but off to the right. With the T-Rexaur was a turnip monster, the one she could never remember the name of. The T-Rexuar charged Seifer, ramming him with his massive skull. Seifer fell back, but returned to his place. He winced slightly, and Ayori could see blood under his clothes.  
  
_Blood? {They had to get hurt somehow... and I doubt numbers appeared over their heads when they did.} Oh crap..._  
  
The turnip monster waved its tentacles in the air, sending dust at Seifer. He had just begun to prepare an attack... when his eyes closed and he slumped forward. "SEIFER!" Ayori screamed. He didn't respond. She couldn't leave him here... he'd die! She gripped her small sword, took a battle stance, and ran at the turnip monster. With all the strength she could muster, she hacked at it furiously. A large gash appeared across its torso, and it slumped forward, disappearing.  
  
"One shot! Not bad..." Ayori's triumph wasn't enough to save her from what happened next. The T-Rexaur, now alerted of her presence, came charging forward. He crashed into her with such force it knocked her back at least 20 feet. The pain ripped through her whole body, settling on her left arm. _Aa... looks like its broken. Shit!_ She looked up at the monster, who was eyeing her hungrily.  
  
"That was fun, ne? Guess I'm gonna end up dying after all." Her eyes narrowed. "That's too bad really, I wanted to kick some dino-ass."  
  
_{You give up to easily.} Oh really? And what do you propose I do? {Let me handle this.} .....Nani?_  
  
Ayori almost didn't see it coming. The room just suddenly started getting darker. It reminded her a bit of Diablos, except the darkness had a red hue to it. She felt herself changing, growing smaller. What the hell? What's going on? {My name is Ari, and I'm going to help you.} WHAT?!?  
  
Ayori's body disappeared, leaving a smaller bat-like demon in its wake. The demon was maybe four feet tall, and had black leathery wings that were double its height in length. It had pointed ears sticking out from its head horizontally. The red hue shone off the demon's leatherish skin, causing it to almost glow.  
Its eyes opened slowly, revealing irises dark as onyx. Its eyes narrowed, and two clawed hands formed a circle. In the circle, a red ball of light formed. An impish smirk appeared on the demon's face, and it posed almost like a human baseball pitcher, with the ball of light in its clawed hand. It launched the ball of light forward, sending it flying at the T-Rexaur.  
When the light struck the torso of the monster, it exploded outward in tiny red tendrils. The monster cried out in pain. The cry was cut off however, when the T-Rexaur's body dematerialized, leaving no signs of being there in the first place.  
  
The light came back slowly, and the demon that called itself Ari disappeared, returning Ayori to her original place. Overwhelmed by both pain and shock, Ayori gladly submitted to the darkness that welcomed her.  
  
A few feet away, a once-sleeping Seifer stared at the body in shock.   
  
~~~  
  



	4. Memories of the Past

  
  
  
  
Chapter 4 – Memories of the Past  
  
It was like the world replayed itself. Except this time, Ayori replaced Squall. Seifer picked her unconscious body up and ran to the Infirmary. Dr. Kadowaki dropped her coffee mug in surprise, letting it smash onto the floor. "Get her on a bed!"  
  
Seifer did as he was told, placing the smaller girl on the bed. The same bed that Squall had been on... Seifer snapped to attention. Now was not the time to think about him. He sat in the nearby chair and watched as Dr. Kadowaki immediately started using Potions on Ayori.  
  
"She's going to be fine then," Seifer concluded. He watched the Potions eat away at her scars. "You don't need me here any longer?"  
  
"No Seifer, it's fine. You can go," Dr. Kadowaki looked up briefly. A flicker of a smile appeared, but then disappeared as she continued. Seifer nodded and left the Infirmary, and stopped in the cafeteria to tell Zell about Ayori. Waiting through his yells, curses, and threats, Seifer watched him run off. He then continued on his normal routine as though nothing had happened.  
  
---  
  
Zell stared at the wall in Ayori's hospital room, thinking. 'I haven't felt this _helpless_ since…'  
  
A young Zell scurried through the hallways of the orphanage, searching for the room Squall was in. Ellone had been gone for a week, and he was as depressed as ever. Zell smiled, remembering that it was April 1st, and cautiously entered Squall's room. He snuck up next to the sleeping boy's bed, and shook him awake.  
  
"Squall, hey Squall!"  
  
"Nnn… What? Zell? Is something wrong?"  
  
Zell swallowed slowly, trying not to smile. "Squall, Seifer died."  
  
"What?" the small boy hissed, eyes growing wide. "No... No!" Squall sat up, grabbing the sides of his head.  
  
"April Fools, Squall! …Squall? Squall, are you okay?"  
  
"No no no no no no…" Tears streamed down the brunette's delicate face, and Zell shook him lightly.  
  
"Squall... hey… Squall! I was… I was kidding, Squall! Squall!" When he didn't get an answer, he took one last look at the boy and ran out into the hallway. "MATRON! MAAAATRON!"  
  
Seifer'd been adopted days earlier, and Matron phoned his adoptive parents to ask if Squall could see him. They agreed quickly, and brought him back later that day. They said they'd be back later on, and left Seifer at the orphanage. Zell watched from the doorway as Seifer entered the room.  
  
"Squall?"  
  
"Nononono…"  
  
"Hey, Squall. Squall it's me, Seifer!"  
  
Squall stopped. Literally, he froze. He didn't even breathe. Zell would never forget what happened next…  
  
"Oh Hyne! SEIFER!" Squall had launched himself at the taller blonde, wrapping his arms around his shoulders and shaking. He started sobbing, and Seifer rubbed his back, letting him cry.  
  
Zell had left then, not wanting to spy on them. Eventually Squall calmed down, and for the first time in hours, he came out of his room. Squall didn't leave Seifer's side the entire day, and started crying again when Seifer told him he couldn't stay.  
  
"I gotta go, Squall," Seifer shrugged. "I have a family now."  
  
Matron told Squall to be strong, and to be happy for Seifer. Squall didn't cry anymore, and they all waited for Seifer's parents to return for him. But they never came. Seifer had been heartbroken, and Squall had been there when he'd needed to lash out.  
  
"This is _YOUR FAULT_! If I hadn't come back they wouldn't have left me here! I HATE YOU!" Seifer stormed off, leaving Squall on the steps at the front of the orphanage. He sat there for hours, and nobody had approached him or Seifer for the rest of the day. Not even Matron.  
  
Zell sighed, closing his eyes. Things between Seifer and Squall had never been the same since then. Although Seifer had said he didn't blame Squall, neither of them ever worked it out. And he couldn't do anything to help them. Just like he couldn't do anything now. Zell frowned and settled back in his chair, preparing himself for what was shaping up to be a long wait.  
  
---  
  
Squall growled, marching through the hall with a determination in his eyes that hadn't been seen since before the defeat of Ultimecia. There was a fire burning behind those normally dull gray eyes, and all that saw him in the hallway were quick to move out of the way. No one felt like dealing with an ornery headmaster. Especially when the headmaster was equipped with a gunblade.  
  
More than once he had almost calmed himself and stopped his patrol of the halls. But then he'd hear it: the taunting, baritone laugh of his childhood rival. He would see that cruel smirk as Seifer eyed him as if HE were the lesser one. As if HE were the one that couldn't even become a SeeD, instead of being the headmaster of Garden. Squall told himself that the smirk did nothing to determine his actions anymore. It didn't quite matter what he told himself; that didn't change the fact that he still did. He doubted himself because of that smirk, those taunting blue eyes, and that cocky stance. He let himself because he'd almost lost him, and he vowed never to let it happen again.  
  
He knew there were rumors flying around about he and the former Sorceress' Knight; he didn't really care about them. Everything that they said was wrong anyway. They were not lovers, they did not have a secret affair going on. Squall had just finally realized that Seifer was the closest thing to a best friend he'd ever have. Zell was a great guy, but he just wasn't Seifer. Squall needed his insults and his challenges to function properly, and without him he'd ended up falling in love and almost killing the person that had taken care of them since childhood.  
  
Once he'd seen his rival again, his mission seemed to clear up and everything fit into place. Squall hated surprises more than anything. The girl, Ayori, had been a surprise. He admitted that he didn't outright hate her at first sight, but there was something about her that made him cautious. It could have been her uncanny resemblance to himself, but he dismissed that easily. She had red hair; he had brown. She had blue eyes; he had gray. There were too many differences for him to dwell on it. He had also entered the Training Center and was working down his anger. He didn't want to kill his best friend, now did he?  
  
"Leonhart." The noise of a gunblade being triggered followed, along with a gut-wrenching scream from what had been a monster and was currently a puddle of organs and sticky green liquid. Seifer stood in front of the kill, eyeing him evenly. He didn't cower like the other students when coming face-to-face with the headmaster. Squall appreciated that more than Seifer would ever know.  
  
"I hear it got a little rough in training today. Tell me, Seifer, why is our newest student currently in the Infirmary with potions healing her left arm while unconscious?"  
  
His inquiry was met with a shrug and Seifer wiped his gunblade with a cloth to clear it of marks and gore. "How the hell should I know, Leonhart?"  
  
Squall arched a thin, brown eyebrow. "Aren't you the one she was training with?"  
  
A swipe with the cloth. "Yup."  
  
"Then shouldn't you know?"  
  
Another swipe and a frown. "Nope."  
  
"And why the hell not?" Squall was beginning to get impatient with the blonde's one-word answers.  
  
Seifer glanced up at him, eyes narrowed. "I was fucking SLEEPING, Squall. Do you know how goddamned _humiliating_ it is to fall asleep in the middle of a battle?"  
  
Squall's eyebrow twitched and he forced his anger down. He would ignore Seifer's tone; just because he was headmaster didn't mean he wanted respect every second of every day. And he let Seifer get away with it because, somewhere deep down, he enjoyed being equal and missed being a regular student. "I can't issue you a Guardian Force, Seifer. I'm sorry. You know the probation..."  
  
"Fuck the goddamned probation! Squall, you know me better than anybody. I didn't ditch her like everybody says. I don't plan on telling anybody what really happened, but if the kid wants to, she can go ahead. I don't care. She ripped the fucking T-Rexaur to shreds; she deserves the credit for it."  
  
Squall's brow furrowed. "What?"  
  
Seifer smirked. "It was interesting, really. I thought newbies weren't allowed Guardian Forces?"  
  
"They aren't," Squall replied, shaking his head.  
  
Seifer blinked in surprise. "Well, that's interesting. It helps explain why I couldn't recognize the GF, though…" Seifer trailed off, lost in thought.  
  
Squall chewed the inside of his lip. He could almost see the wheels turning in the blonde's head as he was crouched behind his gunblade. "Seifer." Said boy glanced up at him, regarding him distractedly. "I think you should tell me EXACTLY what happened." Seifer's eyes narrowed, before his face calmed and the two stared at each other for a moment.   
  
"I think you should get your head out of your ass!" Seifer hollered suddenly, glaring into the stormy eyes of the Headmaster. He stood and sliced through the air forcefully with his right arm. "I think you should stop and actually CONSIDER the things that you say, Squall! You knew that by sending her in here with me that I wouldn't have any means of protecting her. You KNEW that! Are you TRYING to humiliate me? Because I have to say, you're doing a pretty bang-up job! If that kid _died_, it would be my fault! Not yours. It wouldn't be your fault because you left me in charge, even though you knew I had no protection against elementals or spells. You just don't get it at all."  
  
Seifer shook his head, walking forward and brushing past his shorter rival. He disappeared through the doors of the Training Centre, leaving Squall staring after him in shock.  
  
"I… knew. I knew that he was helpless. How could I not have realized…" Squall trailed off, dumbfounded. He shook his head. Having people obeying him so often had given him an attitude, expectancy that his orders would be followed to the letter with no questions asked. Squall smirked; it was ironic. "Even when you're doing everything you can _not_ to be helpful, you end up helping me in the end, Almasy. Thanks," he murmured, taking one last look around the massacre within the Training Centre before walking through the airlock door.   
  



End file.
